Samsung has increased the prices of its mobile devices in October by 9%-11.3%, according to the October price list the company distributed to mobile shops.
According to Samsung’s mobile prices list, the Piton has increased from EGP 320 to EGP 350, while the J5 has increased from EGP 2,060 to EGP 2,249. The J7 has increased from EGP 2,660 to EGP 2,899. The Note 7 64GB LTE has also increased from EGP 10,265 to EGP 11,299, while the S7 edge LTE has increased from EGP 9,960 to EGP 10,999.
Samsung’s tablets also witnessed a price increase in October with the price of the Galaxy View 32GB LTE increasing from EGP 8,550 to EGP 9,399.
Samsung’s smart watch prices have also increased by 9.5%-11.3%. The Gear Fit2 has increased from EGP 2,840 to EGP 3,149. The Gear S2 Classic has increased from EGP 5,150 to EGP 5,699, and the Gear S2 Sport has increased from EGP 4,760 to EGP 5,299.
Mobile companies Huawei and Tecno have both already increased their prices in September by up to 11%.
The sales of the local mobile market retreated during the first quarter of the current year by about 7% when compared to the same period last year, according to GFK research institution. The market registered the sale of 4 million mobile devices in the first three months of the current year compared to 4.3 million in the same period in 2015.
Egypt has suffered a severe shortage in US dollar liquidity since last year, which has pushed the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to cooperate with the government to take several measures, such as developing regulations for imports and customs, cancelling most of the US dollar deposit caps, and increasing the price of the US dollar in the official exchange market by 14 % in March.
The current US dollar exchange rate has stabilised in banks at EGP 8.83 for buying and EGP 8.88 for selling, while it has registered in the unofficial market as EGP 13. Some experts expect that the government will float or devalue the Egyptian pound against the US dollar again in the next period.
